Selected reviews★★★★ “Assembling the largest cast of trans and gender-diverse artists in Australian history, Gender Euphoria is a liberating, joyful and poignant celebration of difference… Uplifting vocals from Mama Alto, eye-catching circus feats and a rousing choric finale round out a show that, under Maude Davey’s direction, recasts the stage as sanctuary – a home where these performers can be themselves without fear or shame. That’s an exciting congregation to join. No one could fail to be impressed by the emotional intelligence, strength of character and talent here, and if audiences keep even a trace of the welcoming spirit when they leave, the world will be a better place.”
Cameron Woodhead, The Age
https://www.theage.com.au/culture/theatre/a-joyful-and-poignant-celebration-of-difference-20191016-p5316n.html“Being part of that audience was electrifying: the bond between the performers and their audience was palpable, an almost visible shimmer of energy. Every act felt saturated with meaning: the show’s formal simplicity and directness created a fullness of emotional affect that’s hard to describe. It was full in a way that a lot of conventional performance, no matter how dressed to the nines in money and spectacle, is empty: every performer was fully present, wholly alive and generous, giving everything they had. Flying beyond the binaries that mutilate us all.”
Alison Croggon, Witness Performance
https://witnessperformance.com/midsumma-flying-beyond-the-binaries/ “In The Famous Speigeltent the triumph of the Gender Euphoria family is infectious, and moments of happiness and pride bring the sting of tears. If you’ve ever overcome severe pain or the acid of social stigma, the euphoria of these artists speaks for you.”
Monique Grbec, Witness Performance
https://witnessperformance.com/euphoric-freedom/ “What a show like Gender Euphoria does is widen our eyes to the breadth of possibility in being trans – and especially to the distinctive kinds of joy that, because of the steeper path hiked to it, trans people are simply more attuned to. Dysphoria is important, but it can’t be the entirety of the story told about trans people. Being trans, ultimately, is not just fleeing something that feels wrong. It’s also about finding what feels gloriously right, grasping it with both hands, and singing with all the voice it gives you.”
Andy Connor, The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/26/the-joy-that-comes-from-embracing-trans-identity-shouldnt-be-so-rare “A project of love and an expression of community from performer and director Maude Davey and Melbourne singer and impresario, the legendary Mama Alto, the cabaret Gender Euphoria at the Spiegeltent for Melbourne festival (following a sold-out, one-night-only performance at Midsumma earlier this year) was less a mere show than a loud embrace of the messy instinct to love and be loved that makes us all so very human. Under Mama Alto’s gentle wing, an impressive cast of trans and gender-diverse performers alternatively sang like angels, danced like demons and told stories of their lives that brought the crowd to fits of laughter or audible tears; a joke about dildos in bumbags, memorably, to both. An authentic joy.”
Van Badham, The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/dec/23/you-leave-changed-critics-pick-the-best-of-australian-theatre-in-2019
“In a world that values de!nitives and absolutes, Gender Euphoria celebrates the vulnerable, the in-betweens, the acts of delicate transformation, where transitioning is a constant state of affairs… Mama Alto performed with Taylor Mac two years ago in A 24 Decade History of Popular Music and she has adopted one of Taylor’s best qualities: a way of looking at fellow performers as though they are the most beautiful person in the world. She endows her community with love. When she looks at people, she shines. “e audience, washed with light from the stage, beams back. And her voice, when she rockets up an octave in “e Pretenders’ I’ll Stand By You, sends goosebumps through my whole body. My friend lets out a strangled whoop that contains both the desire to cheer and the urge to maintain the pin-drop silence in the room… Gender Euphoria revels in this multiplicity, creating a space of joyous possibility and radical hope.”
Sarah Walker, Australian Book Review
https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=5962:gender-euphoria-arts-centre-melbourne-melbourne-international-arts-festival&Itemid=1022&idU=1 Acknowledgements
Creative development, rehearsals and performances of Gender Euphoria 2018-2023 have been supported by funding from the Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Victoria, CreateNSW & SydneyWorldPride 2023, the City of Melbourne Arts Grants program, The Ron & Margaret Dobell Foundation, and by private donors.
Gender Euphoria has also received support from Arts Centre Melbourne (the original commissioning presenter), Midsumma Festival, Auspicious Arts, Dancehouse, the Melbourne International Arts Festival, The Famous Spiegeltent, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, The Seymour Centre, Sydney WorldPride 2023 and Darlinghurst Theatre Company.
Credits & collaborators over the lifetime of Gender Euphoria
Co-creators: Mama Alto and Maude Davey OAM
Director: Maude Davey OAM
Associate Director (2020 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras): Anni Davey OAM
Musical Directors: Ned Dixon (2017-present), Rosie Rai (2023-present)
Lighting Designers: Paul Lim (2019), Rachel RuiQian Lee (2019-present), Nicholas Moloney (2023-present)
Stage management: Sarah Platts (2019), Jacinta Anderson (2020), Stormy (2019, 2023), Piera Dennerstein (2023), Kathryn Moose Kaehler (2023)
Choreography: Valerie Hex (2019), Miss Bailee Rose (2019), Nikki Viveca (2023 dance captain)
Costuming: Ellen Munro, Karen Munro, Latisha Cooper, Lucy Wilkins Flower Crowns, Maddi Kraan, OMG LMT Lyndal May Tucker, Ruby Slipers, Tam Puni, Tarran Battye, Tristan Seebohm
2019 Midsumma ensemble: Amao Leota Lu, Miss Bailee Rose, Fury, Harvey Zielinski, Mama Alto, Georgie “Mx Munro” George, Ned Dixon, Nevo Zisin, Dr Quinn Eades, and Themme Fatale; with embedded Auslan interpreters Kirri Dangerfield & Mac Gordon
2019 Melbourne International Arts Festival ensemble: Amao Leota Lu, Miss Bailee Rose, Fury, Harvey Zielinski, Mama Alto, Georgie “Mx Munro” George, Ned Dixon, Nevo Zisin, Dr Quinn Eades, and Themme Fatale; with Guest Artists: Aunty Crystal Love, Cerise Howard, Krishna Istha, and Nikki Viveca; with embedded Auslan interpreters Kirri Dangerfield & Mac Gordon
2020 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras ensemble: Amao Leota Lu, Miss Bailee Rose, Fury, Harvey Zielinski, Mama Alto, Georgie “Mx Munro” George, Nevo Zisin, Nikki Viveca, Dr Quinn Eades, and Themme Fatale; with Guest Artists: Krishna Istha
2023 Sydney WorldPride ensemble: Amao Leota Lu, Miss Bailee Rose, Fury, Harvey Zielinski, Mama Alto, Georgie “Mx Munro” George, Nevo Zisin, Nikki Viveca, Rosie Rai and Themme Fatale; with Guest Artist: Aunty Crystal Love
2023 Arts Centre Melbourne ensemble: Amao Leota Lu, Fury, Harvey Zielinski, Mama Alto, Georgie “Mx Munro” George, Ned Dixon, Nevo Zisin, Nikki Viveca, Rosie Rai and Themme Fatale; with Guest Artists: Aunty Crystal Love, Miss Cairo and Luca Trimboli; Special Guests from the House of Alexander: Ella Ganza, Jade, London and Talia; with embedded Auslan interpreters Kirri Dangerfield & Mac Gordon
Production history
2017-2018 Research and development.
2018-2019 Creative development.
2019 Midsumma Festival (Melbourne’s premiere LGBTIQA+ arts festival) sold out first showing at Fairfax Studio theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne - one night only spectacular - the largest entirely trans and gender diverse ensemble in an Australian main stage context.
2019 Melbourne International Arts Festival sold out week long season in The Famous Spiegeltent at Arts Centre Melbourne - the largest entirely trans and gender diverse ensemble in an Australian major international festival.
2020 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras two night showing at the Seymour Centre - A reduced “highlights” showing of the original Gender Euphoria show - without the live instrumentalists, with a smaller cast, and a shorter run time. A Sydney test showing, and community engagement opportunity.
2023 Sydney WorldPride week long season at the Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s Eternity Playhouse - An official selection of the WorldPride Arts Program, bringing “Gender Euphoria” to the world queer stage as part of the first ever Southern Hemisphere edition of WorldPride.
2023 Arts Centre Melbourne - Triumphant homecoming season at the State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne.
Accolades
2020 Nominee for Best Cabaret Production at the 37th Annual Green Room Awards
2020 Co-creator Maude Davey appointed an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia, General Division) for service to the performing art - Gender Euphoria one of the contributing projects listed in the award citation
2020 Commissioning producer Daniel Clarke awarded Outstanding Contribution to Cabaret at the 37th Annual Green Room Awards - Gender Euphoria one of the contributing projects listed in the award nomination
2021 Co-creator Mama Alto awarded Kirk Robson Award for Community Arts & Cultural Development at the 2021 Australia Council for the Arts Awards - Gender Euphoria one of the contributing projects
2023 Nominee & Finalist for The Melbourne Awards (LGBTIQ+ Category)
2024 Nominee & Finalist for the Victorian Pride Awards (Contributions to LGBTIQA+ Arts Category)
2024 WINNER, Community Inspiration Award for the Victorian Pride Awards (Contributions to LGBTIQA+ Arts Category)
2024 Nominee (Outstanding Ensemble) in the Cabaret Field at the 41st Annual Green Room Awards
2024 Nominee (Maude Davey OAM, Outstanding Direction) in the Cabaret Field at the 41st Annual Green Room Awards
2024 Nominee (Outstanding Production Design - Stage) in the Cabaret Field at the 41st Annual Green Room Awards
